Avatar: The Fallen Legacy
by Mr.BossMan5000
Summary: After the loss of his parents, Zero Abyss forever decided to take fate into his own hands. If the current avatar cared not for balance, Zero would achieve it himself. Kyana Pheonix is likely the same way, however, her methodology varies greatly from his. When the two bending masters clash in this futurist Republic City, only time knows what is in store for them.
1. Chapter 1

Zero

Historically, the value of the avatar has always been monumental. Their choices did not only have the ability to but almost always did affect the entire world. Even today, our avatar's choice to step aside, and let the world be, came with a set of consequences that the rest of humankind would have to pay. However, realistically, I think of the avatar kind of like the government. The avatar handles the big problems and keeps the world in balance. The avatar isn't capable of stopping every petty theft or mugging in the whole world. That's where local law enforcement took responsibility. The small issues become larger ones when even the local law enforcement fails to complete, or even attempt for that matter, their jobs. By this nature alone, is how I, a seventeen-year-old rich orphan Zero Abyss, found myself a vigilante in modern-day Republic City.

Arriving at the docks, I notice that I recognize some non-bender trouble maker kids from around this area. All of them motionless, but their faces and stiff body language told me the story.

 _A blood bender_.

I look to the sky where I see only a half moon. Meaning this person was not only an advanced enough bender to blood bend but didn't need the full moon to do it.

 _This could get interesting_.

The first thing to do would be to figure out where this blood bender was at. I light fires to my fist, and just as I do, one of the teens in the blood grip is hurled at me by this hidden bender. I maneuver out of the path and look up to find a wave coming at me from the ocean. Once again getting away from the attack another teen is tossed my direction, this time nearly slamming into me. Surveying the area, a ship doc full of crates, I come to the conclusion that this battlefield is already a big disadvantage to me. Near the ocean, at night, facing a master blood bender, who has a set of hostages turned weapons that I know I can't harm.

 _Definitely gonna need to change this platform to help me out some._

I go ahead and decide to ignite the wooden docks. Hoping that I'll draw out the bender who's likely hiding behind some crates. Before my fire can have any real effects the water level rises from beneath and quells my flames.

 _This person isn't fighting very offensively. They're maybe even just toying with me. Who even is this guy? Why haven't I encountered him before?_

I yell aloud, "Stop wasting my damn time!"

On cue, a figure slowly begins to rise from the water, to which I was not impressed.

"I hate to ruin your slow motion entrance, but I'd love to get this over with!"

This guy continued to rise slowly, getting on my nerves in the process. That is until I figured out that this figure was no man's at all, but instead that of a curvacious woman. As she began to turn around, her features revealed themselves to me. She was about 5'6 to my 6'0. Her black hair well maintained, her eyes a gorgeous violet color. Everything about her has me taken aback.

 _Damn. She's stunning. How do people anyone expect me to combat with her, and focus at the same time?_

Taken by teenage hormones, I completely lose track of what I'd come her for, mistakenly (or at least I think it was a mistake) saying, "Instead of being enemies, is there any way I could change your mind? We could always settle this with words at my house or something."

She smirks, brushing some black hair behind her ear. I'd thought that meant she was interested. Only from my peripherals do I notice a big lash of water gripping onto a car and flinging it toward me.

 _Making use of me being distracted huh?_

I take a deep breath in, and blast a jet of hot flames straight at the middle of the car, melting the center, and splitting it into two pieces that fly past on either side of me.

"Seriously, it doesn't have to be this way." Yet she remains silent. "You could at least acknowledge my presence with a 'no' or something."

With no hesitation, she responds, "no."

 _Of course._

Just like that, she releases her grip on the students and submerges again. Letting my guard down sooner than I probably should have, I make my way over to the students to make sure they're all okay.

"You guys all right?"

Just like that, I'm bombed with the typical set of replies. The 'thank you' and the ' you saved my life' along with anything else you could think of for frightened teens to say. One of them even offered me some cash rewards, noting that his father owned some big companies here in Republic City.

"My names is Zero Abyss. But trust me, I don't need the repayment. I helped because I wanted to, not because you all should owe me anything."

Just as I'm wrapping up my statement, I feel a sharp pain in then back of my neck, falling to the ground in the process. The teens all take off in different directions. I look up, and there 'she' is standing over me, her violet eyes looked sharp enough to pierce my soul. She's leaning at a very calculated angle. One where I could almost see down shirt, but just high enough to prevent that.

"We'll be seeing more of each other, Zero." Her voice slightly playful, but still dangerous like delicious poison. With one hand on her hip, she uses the other to 'shhh' me with her index finger, before clenching a fist. My body stiffens, and my vision fails me.

By the time I open my eyes, the moon is in a different position. Clearly, she'd use blood bending to put me under. It's been a couple hours at least. I get up to head home for the night and think a thought to myself.

 _I'm gonna need to work on resisting seduction. Damn._


	2. Chapter 2

Kyana

Night was my favorite time of day. The beauty of the moon, the swift winds, and the strength of my bending. My element was the greatest, period. Water. It was definitely the most versatile. I could do anything with it. Anything. So seeing a few jerks on the streets of Republic City just made this night ten times better. Just a slight motion in my hand and they didn't know what hit them.

"What the hell?!"

 _The sweet sound of a struggle._ The good thing about being a waterbender was that if you came from the right family, you could also bloodbend. Bloodbending was my specialty. I didn't need a full moon. Just the willpower and I had plenty of that. This might've been one of the best nights of my week. Until I heard footsteps approaching.

 _Someone always has to ruin the fun._ I found a few more guys nearby, probably shipyard workers, who just so happened to be in the wrong place at the right time, and decided they would fight whoever this was for me. I wasn't really into putting effort into anything that didn't interest me, so I slipped into the water before whoever arrived.

To the side, I angle myself so I can see everything on land. I doubt this teenage looking guy who showed up would expect me to be fully submerged. He surveys the scene, first noticing the grip on the low lives I have. Then noticing the moon, he starts piecing together the signs.

His first move was to light his fist on fire. My first move would be simple enough, throwing a body in his direction. He evades that and manages to not get caught in my subsequent water wave. The second person I send his direction nearly lands a hit.

He paused a moment, then sets fire to the wooden docks. Instead of a real response, I simply raise enough water to put out his fire, which clearly annoys him some.

"Stop wasting my damn time," he calls out.

This whole encounter was getting boring, so I decided to move things along. Sinking down into the ocean, I surrounded myself, making sure to not get my hair wet. I slowly elevate myself out of the water, loving the feel of being surrounded by it. Before I have fully emerged, I heard a slightly annoyed tone, "I hate to ruin your slow motion entrance, but I'd love to get this over with!"

I did enjoy that I was getting on his nerves, but eventually, I turn around to see that the kid was definitely that. A kid. A fix foot teen, but a kid all the same. What was with the cops? Letting two kids like us do crap that could kill us? That was exactly the reason why I didn't give a shit about what was supposedly right or wrong. I decided that for myself.

When I settled on the docs, I was greeted with "Instead of being enemies, is there any way I could change your mind? We could always settle this with words at my house or something."

 _C'mon bro. Really? This could come back to hurt you._

Thinking of all the ways I could destroy him, I flipped a nearby car toward him. It was almost about to hit him as I thought, _he couldn't be that stupid?_ Nope. Burned straight down the middle. "Seriously, it doesn't have to be this way."

I thought about just knocking him off his feet, but I went another route, silence. "You could at least acknowledge my presence with a 'no' or something."

"No."

I almost laughed at the look of irritation on his face. I knew the perfect way to let this guy know who he thought he was messing with. I let go of my grip the jerks I was originally here to punish, who all looked very relaxed when I did. Really, they were pathetic. I dropped back into the ocean, with intent to wrap this up.

The worthless kids all praised him, and he seemed convinced this was over, while I made my way around to conclude this. But one of the kids said something noteworthy.

"My family owns some big companies. Give me your name and I'll make sure you get compensated for your help."

More interesting though was the firebender's response.

"My name is Zero Abyss. But trust me, I don't need the repayment. I helped because I wanted to, not because you all should owe me anything."

Zero. _Hm. His philosophy almost sounded familiar. Almost._

A quick water whip to the back of his head sent him to the ground. Everyone else scattered. I leaned over him in a calculated way; I was a bender first and a tease second.

The look on his face could maybe be called genuine concern. "We'll be seeing more of each other Zero." I left him with that thought before using his blood to knock him out.

When I got back to the lake that I live around, it was almost sunrise. Time for bed. I swam to the bottom, and into a cave, I'd found a couple years back. It was the perfect place. I was alone, undisturbed by the stupidity of the city people. Free to do whatever, whenever. Only one other person even knew about this place, the earthbender who carved out the rock furniture. I would have to talk to him soon. I walked to the back wall and looked at a map of the world that hung there. It wouldn't be easy, but I would be the one to unlock the Vault of the Avatar. No matter what it took.


	3. Chapter 3

Zero

The remainder of my weekend was dedicated to finding my new friend. With no results of course. Whoever she was, she was certainly evasive. I still couldn't even understand her what her motives might be. To top things off, Mondays happen meaning I'd have to return to school.

Entering my first-period class, there was only one guy I knew as anything more than a classmate. He boasted featureless white eyes, raven hair and an outfit that consisted of an orange tee, black jacket and a pair of sweats. Soul is basically the only airbender I'm cool with. Actually, the only guy period, that I was cool with considering I had next to no type of social life. I go to sit in my desk to the left of his and start up our conversation.

"I don't see why you won't lend me a hand sometime. I could have used somebody to have my back."

"I don't bend for the city man, I bend for myself. And it was just a waterbender, they're only good for healing."

"You weren't there, you didn't see her talents. The bending ones, nor her other 'special' talent. I could be dead right now. Just help me out. Just this once? Help me catch this girl."

"Alright Zero, I'll do it for the adventure, but I better not die or something."

"Well, it's about damn time. Also, since you're more focused on girls than teen years Sokka, it only seemed right to mention that she's fairly attractive so you better prepare yourself. " "Oh you didn't mention this! You gonna tap that?"

Are you serious? The slight smirk on his faces was absolutely filthy. He was indeed serious. 'Am I gonna tap that?'

"What kind of question is that?" I still can't believe I said it but, "Of course I am! Although you're gonna need to train first. Rep High's combat class is child's play to the real fighting."

He nodded his head to agree. I took out my phone. A woman's voice came from the speakers. "Hi, Zero. How can I be of assistance today?"

"I need the simulator primed and ready for use by the time I get home."

"Confirmed. Is there any other way I may be of service today?"

"That will be all."

I place my phone back into my pocket. "Zero I hate to put it like this, but you're lucky your parents died and left you all their money." The mention of my parent's loss makes me cringe inside, but I didn't signify a response.

The rest of the day sort of went by in a flash. I didn't pay much attention. Thinking was more important at the moment. I got no reports from my computer the whole day. This girl had practically vanished.

I drove us to my house because I still didn't trust Soul to drive my car. My black charger may look like a classic now, but I had spent a lot of money on this thing. Using my phone, I commanded for the security system around my house to shut down. It was a well-sized home, so I kept the most advanced security systems since my place wasn't exactly low profile.

"So I'm thinking we'll be a good one-two punch in a fight Soul. The oxygen you can provide will boost my fire, so we should work on attacking in tandem. And you can cover for me when I want sparks to fly."

I had previously decided I was a pretty decent bender considering I could shoot lightning. It wasn't as rare anymore, but not just anybody could do it either.

"Alright let's head into the training center." I reached for the door handle in the car but stopped at the sound of my phone.

"Mr. Abyss. The target has been located. 7 miles north, 3.42 west. I looked at Soul. Then back at my phone. "I hope you're good at improv."

We pulled up on the coordinates given to me by my phone low and behold there she was. "I guess everyone is adding friends to the party," I say as a means to acknowledge the guy wearing all that was at her side.

Soul and I get out of the car, which proceeds to auto-drive itself away from this hot zone. From the looks of their postures, leaned up against the walls, I guessed this pair had been waiting for me.

I break the silence, "You still going on with this bad girl stuff?"

She replies, "You still playing hero?"

"Oh, so you've got jokes now?"

"Get used to it. Where is the vault of the Fire Lord Zero?"

Her words pierce straight through my composure. The thought that anyone else knew of that place's existence was striking. It was a secret held in my family since it was made by Avatar Raijin about one hundred and fifty years ago. And now someone who hailed from the water tribe caught wind of it too? You've gotta be kidding me.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Zero this isn't a movie, playing dumb doesn't work here. Now you're going to tell me, or you can die."

I checked the surroundings. The city's river. She had planned on a fight. The wind kicked up. Yet she questioned this being a movie. Dramatic wind before the big fight? That's no coincidence. I looked at Soul, and nodded. He stepped in front of me and took a battle stance. I got in position to charge some lightning. The girl pulled backward into the water, lifting herself into a water torrent. I wondered if she'd been watching too many Legend of Korra reruns. Her friend, who showed himself to be an earthbender, got into a boxer's stance, fist up.

"Aye Zero. This ought to be interesting huh?"

Seems Soul was about the find the adventure he'd been looking for. If only he knew what we were getting into.


	4. Chapter 4

Kyana

It had been a while since I'd last talked to Zane. When last I saw him, he carved the details into the cave for me, then disappeared. It wasn't surprising, he wasn't the type to stay in one place for too long. But we always knew how to find each other. It just so happened that he was at the old pro-bending arena that day.

"Kyana, long time no see."

"Yeah, it's been a while. You know why I'm here?"

"Is this about that vault?" He knew me well.

"What can I say? It has a certain lure."

"Well, for as long as I've known you, I know you won't stop until you get there so I might as well help you."

 _Good._ "Glad to hear it. Tell me everything you know about a guy named Zero Abyss."

He stared at me for a second. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Obviously not, he someone I should know about?"

Zane spent the next hour explaining every reason why I should've already known who this Abyss kid was, and why he was a key part in finding the Vault. Now Zero wasn't just someone to mess with. He was important. Great. _Oh well, I'll find a way._

"He'll be looking for you," Zane followed up. "You can have that effect."

I didn't usually think about my appearance, only my goals. But when people pointed it out, it was just a slight boost to my day. Even if I didn't show it. I walked with Zane down to the river, just waiting for Zero to show up. It didn't take very long for that to happen, and I was thrilled. I loved to fight. He got out of his car, and the first thing he said was, "You still rolling on this bad girl stuff?"

"You still playing hero?" Being a smartass was also part of my nature.

"Oh, so you got jokes now?"

"Get used to it. Where is the vault of the Fire Lord Zero?"

His eyes narrowed, and he winced. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Did he think I was an idiot? "Zero this isn't a movie, playing dumb doesn't work here. Now you're going to tell me, or you can die."

I almost meant that, but part of me wasn't all into killing people. _Hope he doesn't pick up on that._ I looked over at his friend, who just stood there, looking like the type of person to go with the flow. The two looked at each other, and the other kid stepped out in front, taking a light-footed stance.

 _Airbender? Interesting._ Zero's pointed fingers suggested lightning, which would not be a good combination with water. Good thing I had Zane. Knowing he could handle himself in a fight, I prepared myself with a huge swirl of water. This would definitely be fun.

In the time it took me to blink, I saw a pretty impressive amount of electricity aimed to hit my vortex of water. So he was at least smart enough to attempt to get the water to conduct. I simply adjusted where my water was spinning to dodge his shot. At this time of day, not too much after noon, his bending would be at near it's best. A shame that at best he still wouldn't be able to handle this. When Zero began to shoot a volley of fire blast, Zane's earth wall easily halted the attack. I returned with some ice disks. Zero melted those aimed at him, typical firebender move, but his friend did a mediocre job at dodging for someone who can move like the wind.

Zero looked at his friend, and then again returned to shooting at us.

 _Does he learn nothing?_

Zane's earth wall again made a perfect defense, until I saw the fire start to break through.

 _What is Zane doing over there?_ Then I saw it. With every few shots Zero sent, the airbender boosted with a wave of wind. The oxygen had added strength to the fires. On the outside, nothing changed about me, but I was just a little surprised. It wouldn't save them though, it would only give me a slightly greater challenge. Anything was better than it just being overly easy. After the lecture Zane had given me earlier, I hoped this kid could live up to something.

I'd fought with Zane multiple times before, so our minds were always on the same level. Sometimes I forgot how smart he was. Wet pavement still equaled earth. A little extra water made it extra bendable. Once we had it around the airbender's feet, Zane turned it into a rock mold.

"What the hell?!"

"For an airbender, you're pretty slow," Zane remarked. I couldn't help but smile. Zero rolled his eyes.

"Really," he sounded annoyed.

"What can I say? We've been doing this for awhile."

I sent shards of ice his way, which he blocked with a fire kick.

"Zane, think you could take care of this for me?"

"No problem. Firebenders are my specialty."

I walked over to the airbender. He was trying to free himself from the rock.

"Having some trouble there?"

He just stood there staring for a minute, like a deer in the headlights. "Are you brain dead?"

I looked at his face, followed his eyes, and immediately became annoyed. I smiled, then kneed him where it counts.

He doubled over in pain, which was very satisfying. "Try looking at my eyes next time."

I considered my appearance for the second time that day. I was wearing a typical summer outfit, unusual looking for a waterbender. A black tank top paired with white shorts, along with a pair of gray basketball shoes. It's not like I looked like a stripper. I looked down at my chest again.

 _Well, not completely._ I turned around to see that Zane still needed work, very worn down by Zero.

 _Seriously?_

Zero through one more hit and Zane was down. I'd have to use alternate methods on this kid.

"So, it's just us again," he notes.

 _Yep._

I decided to go for his emotions. I started to cry, and with a gentle voice, asked, "why are you doing this to me?"


	5. Chapter 5

Zero

"Why are you doing this to me?"

 _Crying? You HAVE to be joking!_ She'd made these last few days for me a total hell, and had the time of her life doing it. She'd ruined my best friend's chance at kids. With a smile on her face. And she'd stolen secrets from my family like it was a casual everyday thing. But another part of me told me she was serious. Maybe this was a big misunderstanding and she mistook me for the bad guy.

"Why are you blocking the path Zero? I thought you helped because you wanted to, not for debts."

I'm hit by the same thing I'd said the other day. I let down my guard down, and walk over. Slowly. "What do you mean blocking the path? I'm protecting the city."

She looked up at me and I met her gaze. "This isn't about the city. This is about the world. The world that needs its Avatar," she says, tears rolling now.

I tried to comfort her without being too touchy. "Well, um, what should I do to help?"

I glanced at Soul who was looking at me and shaking his head. I didn't know if I should listen to him or my own instincts. The sound of her light voice caught my attention again.

"The vault. All I need to know is where to find the vault." I took a deep breath. I chose my instincts. When I pulled out my phone, I pressed a few buttons, then a scan went through my eye. I pressed a few more buttons and a small piece of paper printed with the location of the Vault of The Fire Lord.

"Here."

She wiped her face and seemed to brighten up a bit.

"I'm glad that you changed your mind."

"You could have just explained from the start and I would have just helped."

She waved her hands, and we were covered in water she'd drawn from the river. She walked out after freezing me inside.

"I'm glad you weren't smart enough to figure me out. You think I'd beg you for anything, or have a breakdown in the middle of a fight? Honestly Zero, you're pitiful."

She swept up Zane with a wave and the two of them dove into the river.

A fire erupts from my mouth, "DAMMIT ALL!"

"What the hell did you do man?" Soul was barely speaking from his fixed standing position. " I've just given her power. And whoever else she wants to have it."

"We still got a shot at this man. There aren't a lot of people that know about the Monk's vault's location."

"And you do?"

"Of course. We just have to retrieve that key, and she's still locked out."

"Wait, you know about Avatar Raijin's vault too?"

"Zero, there aren't many airbenders compared to the rest of y'all. Is it really that hard to fathom that my family is one of the protector families? Give me some credit bro, I know about more than just girls. Besides, I tried to tell you not to trust her. Any girl who'd use a low blow against a man, for looking at what a man should be looking at, has to be evil. I mean don't she know that when the flag is at full mast, it's a good sign!"

At this point, I don't even know what to say to him. First, there's the new information that like the Fire Lord's vault, there's a Monk's Vault. So I suppose there was one per element. The safety of each, intrusted to a few families, like the Abyss family. The second thing that caught me was this man's limitless perversion. But now wasn't the time for that. This entire thing had just turned way bigger. And it was my responsibility to my parents to protect the Vault.

"C'mon. We have a lot of prep to do. We're leaving the country to get to those vaults. Assuming the Monk's is out of the country right?"

"Yeah. But I won't say where, she could still be listening."

"Right." You'd think I'd have learned that after the last time I saw her jump into water. I broke the earth around his feet, and had to help him to the car. We both stayed at my house for the night. This school thing would have to wait.

The next morning, we really felt the effects of the battle, as the fatigue was in full force. I had asked my phone to take all the data it had obtained while with me during the fight and put it into the simulator.

Over some breakfast, I get to work on our journey.

"Where is the monk's vault anyway?"

"Japan haha. In the mountains."

"At the top of mountains just like your old temples? Isn't that a bit obvious?"

"Actually yeah. Which is why it's underground."

"Ah...well I hope you've enjoyed your days as a bum, we're taking the next 5 days to train you into a beast. In all conditions. Next time we clash with them it's for keeps, and I can't fight 2v1."

"And what about speaking Japanese so we don't look like complete American crap when we arrive?"

"We could try the nanobots and put them on the language related part of the brain."

"Zero, how much money do you have? And I better not start disintegrating."

I could have responded but there was too much on my mind.

The training process was rigorous. My computer clearly believed that this girl was unbelievably powerful. The day time simulation were tough, and the nighttime sims were punishing. Changing locations never seemed to hinder her friend either. But Soul made progress. Our teamwork sync improved, and Soul's reflexes got faster. He was starting to actually look like an airbender out there. Despite this being a race, I figured we had some time while she went to Africa to find our vault. Thankfully the coordinates I gave over didn't tell her that It was a highly guarded monument. It was actually the most public of the vaults, but they never announced it as a vault. Only as Africa's greatest museum, The National Bardo Museum in Tunis.

 _I wonder how well she is with the native languages._ I decided Soul and I could use an extra day to rest and practice our Japanese.

The night before our departure, I dreamed that our last encounter went differently. That the girl was actually the good girl she played me for. There was no way that was true though. When I woke up, my mind was clear.

"Soul. Let's make history."

He followed me to a door that I almost ever mad use of, and went down a long flight of stairs. "Where we going? Your second base..."

His sentence was cut short when he saw the matte black jet and underground garage.

"Seriously Zero, how loaded are you?!"

He followed me to the cockpit and I sat in the seat and strapped the seat belts. "Wait wait wait, are you licensed to fly a jet?!"

"Computer."

In response, a small plastic card with my name, picture, and credentials on it came from a slot.

"Am now. Sit down."

"Zero Abyss, you are something else."


	6. Chapter 6

Kyana

He'd taken the bait. This should be a huge victory, but part of me actually regretted taking advantage of him like that. Granted, it was a really small part, but still a part. Nonetheless, I was taking Zane to Africa, like now. When we were back under the lake, I took a look at the map and put an 'X' on the coordinates of the Vault of the Firelord. I wasn't sure how I felt about swimming almost six thousand miles to the coast of Africa in denim shorts. So I wore sports shorts instead.

We began on what would be the easiest park of the trip. Getting from Republic City to the Atlantic Ocean. Zane and I had enough money between us to take a one-way train across the continent. But I spent most of that time resting. The next part of the journey would rely solely on me.

At some point I woke up, to talk to Zane for a quick second.

"Zane, you can still use seismic sense, right?"

"Yeah, why couldn't I?"

"Just making sure."

That would be helpful. Just as I was about to tell Zane to grab his things so we could get off the train, a thought occurred to me.

 _I still need the key from the Monk's Vault. I'll bet that airbender knows where it is._ "We should go to the earth vault first. We need to meet Zero and his friend again in Africa."

"Good thinking, but you really think he's stupid enough to go there?"

"Don't you?"

"Good point, but I wouldn't underestimate him. He may fit the dumb rich kid stereotype, but he might have a few tricks up his sleeve."

 _Yeah, well I have a few tricks of my own._ "Not a problem. We should get going."

"You know, I've never really wanted to go to China."

"Well you're out of luck," I broke the bad but obvious news to him, "That's where we're heading."

I gotta admit, the travel there wasn't as horrible as I thought it'd be. But still horrible we waited near the beach until nightfall, grabbed us a small boat, then used I my bending to get us out to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in a matter of hours, where Zane found a small uninhabited island. My bending was powerful, even more so with the moon, but I wasn't Wonder Woman. That continuous effort took more out of me than expected.

"I can't believe we're only a quarter of the way there."

Zane looked at me. "China _is_ on the other side of the world, Kyana. You should sleep because I'll expect you to have a plan."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the plan person. Duh."

 _Guess I'll just dream a plan up then._

Whatever supernatural thing happened in my mind that night was a miracle, because when I woke up next to Zane that morning, I actually had a plan. Granted, it probably wasn't a very good one, nor one that I wanted to share with Zane but a plan.

"Morning, sunshine," Zane said, noticing I was awake.

"Don't call me that."

First thing in the morning and Zane was already bothering me. This would be a very long day. But I'd need put that aside, and focus on us getting to solid land.

It had taken almost the entire next day, and night to get us to England. We'd now journeyed all the way from the west coast where Republic City was, to the East coast, and across the Atlantic ocean. With not much rest, and limited food. All crammed into a time frame of about two and a half days or so.

I crashed out for I don't know how long, while Zane took over the travel arrangements. Eventually, I woke up to find that I was on a very small train car made of earth. Zane's bending propelled us forward on the tracks. He stopped once he noticed I was awake.

"So about that plan, we should stop and hear it."

We were in France by the time he actually remembered I was supposed to have that.

"So basically," I started to explain, glad that I hadn't forgotten since yesterday morning, "When we get to the Vault in China, you're the main force to get the key. I'll only help if you need me, which you shouldn't," I shot him a look that said 'and you _better_ not'.

"Then head back to..." I looked at the small sheet of paper with the location of the Firelord's Vault, "Tunisia. And there we wait until Zero and his friend show up. When they do, I'm not exactly sure what I'll pull. He won't trust my emotion stunts, and I feel like he won't show up until mid-day, unless he really is that stupid, so that rules out any torture with bloodbending. But when I get him to join us, we'll be able to get the key. That airbender shouldn't be too hard to get the key from, even if I'll hate every moment of it. And then we have everything we need to find the Vault of the Avatar."

Before Zane had a chance to reply, a girl a little older than me approached us.

"Pardon, mademoiselle. Puis-je vous aider?"

"Non, merci."

"Est-ce que vous certain?"

"Ouai."

When she walked away, Zane was free to discuss my plan with me.

"That was weird."

"Yeah, well French people are weird."

"So anyway," he continued, "that's all right, but you're forgetting one thing."

"What's that?"

"How do we get to China? If you expect me to continue bending us all the way there _and_ get the key, that will be a problem."

 _Dammit._ "I'll have to l find some water around here." _Wait._ "The Danube River. You can get us there then I can get us at least to the Caspian Sea, if not further. Sound like a plan?"

He nodded. Guess I'd be in for some sort of adventure within the next 24 hours.

Once we got to the Caspian Sea, it wasn't long before I noticed Zane was slipping mentally.

"Pull it together."

"Is it so bad that I'm tired? I told you I'd help you. I've come across that Atlantic to help you even. Don't push it."

Don't push it. I heard it twice, one from Zane, and one echo in my brain. He might've been the only person in existence who could say that to me and live to tell the story. So I let it go, went back to remaining silent.

We stopped off for about 2 hours, but then I convinced Zane to bend us into China. Xinjiang, to be exact. He basically already knew where the vault was, I didn't ask how, and wasted no time, refusing to bend on the final leg there.

Walking was for non-benders, though, when earthbending was an option, it felt even slower by comparison. I didn't push my luck with him, however, and at some point, we finally got to the entrance of the vault after a seriously long journey.

When Zane stepped up to the edge of a flowing river, I thought he was insane.

"This is a waterfall, Zane."

"Which is why nobody would suspect the Earth King's Vault."

 _They might suspect a different vault, though, and then the same problem would still happen._

"Mind opening this thing up," he asked.

I did just that, and through the gap in the fall revealed a huge shrine deep into the side of the cliff. As we approached, I saw two massive badgermoles, quickly headed our way.

 _At least I finally get a challenge. Thank God the moon is up._


	7. Chapter 7

Zero

Upon landing the jet in an airport, I woke Soul up so we could start our little quest. We were immediately greeted by airport staff, thankfully in English.

"Mr. Abyss we welcome you to Japan. And this is Mr..."

Soul cut in before I could answer for him.

"Kid. The names Soul The Kid."

The squinted eyebrows showed me how confused she was, obviously thinking that our American culture had strange ways of naming our offspring. "He's a special case miss. His given name is Soul. Surname Kid. The other word is non-necessity."

This seemed to clear her confusion.

 _Of all the people why do I choose the best friend named the Kid?_

"Is there anything we may assist you during your stay here," she asked me.

Her accent made her words smash together. Although delayed I got what she was saying.

"We already have a hotel booked, but we need a..."

Soul slid in again "Two cars actually ma'am."

 _Just blow my money why doesn't he. It's not like I need it or anything._

"And that will be all," I quickly insert.

I had to make sure I got that in before Soul charged my card anymore. She bowed and turned to leave.

"Thank you."

Before she got out of sound range I added: "Oh if you can, a black SUV, and a green car."

She turned and bowed again. We waited a short while in the private lobby before she returned with 2 sets of keys.

"Mr. Abyss. Mr. Kid."

In the time we'd waited there, I looked around and it occurred to me that in the time we'd learned to speak Japanese, we had made no effort to learn to read it.

"One last thing. Could you write down instructions on how to get to the Hotel Sugicho from here?

"Ah, the Sugicho? Very nice hotel. But very expensive. You must have money."

 _Is this her way of asking me to pass her a couple dollars on the side?_ "Yeah, you could say I've had good fortune in my years." I left it at that and headed out to find our vehicles in the parking garage.

It was pretty obvious who'd be driving each vehicle. When we arrived at the hotel, check in was very smooth. I chose to only get one room but with two beds. We found a decent place to eat and rest up. Tomorrow we'd have to pass some trial or something to get into the vault of the monks.

I left Soul alone while I drove around the city some, to get a feel for the land. Tokyo's technology was so advanced. I thought I was carrying the state of the art gear, but I was clearly missing a few upgrades.

 _Note to self. Buy a vacation home somewhere in this country._

I wanted to get immersed in everything around me. Visit some of the other cities like Kyoto or Nagasaki. But alas, I was busy with other things right now. This was no time for vacation.

When I came back to the room, Soul had found a way to ruin my whole night. Before I even went to unlock the room door I heard a moaning inside. And it wasn't Soul.

 _Ah this bitch. Just couldn't fight the urge. Should be ashamed of himself. And my stuff is in there. Damn you Soul The Kid._

Although I didn't like having to get a whole extra room, I actually slept peacefully that night. If only I could have said the same for nights of the prior week. That morning I learned that Soul never failed to ruin things for me. When I went up to his room, I just used my key to walk in, assuming he was still asleep. In my morning haze, I forgot about what transpired the night before, and why I had a separate room in the first place.

When I walked in, his for-fire mistress was still in the bed. But obviously wasn't very modest about the way she slept. She had one breast hanging out of the covers, Soul's hand on the other, and her legs spread in a very obtuse angle. I might as well have died right then.

"Just couldn't fucking control ya self huh?"

"Look Zero, a man gotta do what a man gotta do. Airbenders gotta repopulate man."

"You little fuck, don't you know that closet pervertedness is the only answer!? You can't go around fawning over every attractive woman you see!"

"Shut up Zero. Everyone knows that open pervs always win. At least we fully accept who we are! If I like a girl, I'm not gonna hide it!"

 _This lil bitch. It's not even worth it._ "Alright, whatever. I don't wanna talk about it. Let's just get to the vault."

"So Zero, here's the catch. Our vault has no guards but a lot of hidden mechanisms. The first trick is that system to open this tunnel is actually in the city. And it stays open for a short time. That way the only way to get in is to have used a glider and got in before it closes. But you don't know where it is until it's opened. So you have to station someone at both locations."

"Then how the hell are we going to get in here?!"

"I thought you planned for that?"

I sighed. "Why did he not bring this up sooner?"

"Alright here's my better idea. We just combine our bending, and blow it up.

 _Is that really such the better idea? Anybody could have thought of that._ "Alright Soul, tell me this then. Why has no earthbender found this place sooner?"

"It was once guarded by sky bison. But after the 100 years war...well you get it. But after that, it almost seemed cursed to come to a former place of airbenders."

"And who would have suspected underground anyway? Airbenders typically hate caves and tunnels."

"Alright, I'll buy it I guess. Let's get on with it."

We each took deep breaths and he blew huge wind slightly after my burst of fire aimed at the base of the mountain. Almost no results

"Again." And we blasted the rock formation a second time.

"Again." Another round only put us deeper into the side of the mountain.

"Again." Yet still, only more rock.

"Again." Finally, something new appeared. We noticed a small hole, going downward.

"It would appear we found our tunnel Soul."

We squeezed our way through the opening and worked our way downward until we were in a big enough tunnel to walk normally. The small passageway opened up into a grand hall. Then to a sacred temple before us. I began to walk forward until the floor in front of me of me pulled away to a spike pit. _Must be one of the little traps he mentioned._ The gap was about 50 feet, though. I wasn't jumping that. Or actually.

"Give me a boost."

I took off running, and kicked some fire from my feet, as Soul willed the air behind me. Being an airbender meant Soul was light on his toes, so he had no problem with clearing the gap. We ran into a few more traps, tricks, and gadgets. But we made it to the base of the temple. At the top. I could see it reflecting what little light it was receiving just like the crystals in this room. The circular relic had the triple swirl of the air nomads on it. We climbed the stairs.

"Soul, you do the honors since you're the airbender. Picking up the relic, we were that much closer to our goals. A second exit appeared at the back. At the end of the tunnel, there was a door which also responded to the key.

Driving back the hotel I was glad something could be easy for once. "Don't get too comfortable Soul, we leave for Africa tomorrow."

"Africa? Why?"

"Well if she doesn't have the key already, Then we should at least try for it. And unlike today, our vault is highly guarded. Be ready to leave by 6 tomorrow morning."

"I know I'm late asking this, but what the whole deal with this elemental keys?"

I knew that holding the relic, a symbol of his culture, and a key to power, had sparked his interest. "You telling me that your family told you stuff about the Vault they were trusted to protect, but never told you its significance?"

"Not exactly. When you're a kid, you come across some stuff, snooping around the house when mom and dad are busy, or away."

"You're right I guess. When my parents died, I didn't know a thing about the vault. I wasn't supposed to be told about it, or responsible for it until I turned 25. Which of course didn't exactly work out. I found all this information while I was in my dad's private library."

"Yeah. So I know this all has something to do with unmatched bending prowess right?"

"The story goes something like this. Avatar Raijin, like all of us, learned history. He always thought that the 100 year war, and genocide of an entire culture could have been prevented if instead of Roku dying to be reborn a baby, but instead his Avatar spirit just transferring to a fully realized bender. Through use of the avatar state, and the avatar's ability to take bending, he created to ability to give bending to someone without it. But also, to give more than one element to other people. However, he locked away all this power in a vault. Seeing at that it's purpose would only be in an emergency if something like that happened again. Referring to the death of an Avatar while the world is on the brink of crisis. The idea was that, in that event, four guardian families, could each entrust their key to someone deemed worthy. With all four keys, the person could find the vault of the avatar, and become what the world needs to end the crisis, while the true avatar was a mere infant."

"Make sense. Each family only trusted with the information of one of the four keys necessary to unlock the vault. So Zero your family was one of such. And so is mine."

"And we're assuming that our two new friends know something about the vault's of their respective elements, considering that they've teamed up, and are hunting down the keys."

"Gotcha. So this is a pretty big deal."

"Relatively speaking, yes."

Flying the jet toward Africa the next day I could already fee a confrontation coming about. We'd be arriving at about 10 am. Good. So it was at least my time of day. After placing the air key in an eye scan lock on the jet I went over some last minute details with Soul.

"Alright remember, we came here to Africa first, we sure don't have the Monk's key in our possession, and you aren't even of age to have been told about The Vault of the Monks."

"I got it."

"Well good. Let's go make hell."


	8. Chapter 8

Kyana

"Kyana," Zane explained something alien to me, "badgermoles aren't aggressive. Don't fight them, that's a sure way we'll never see that key. We need to gain their trust, and they will show us the way."

Zane could be dumb sometimes, but when it really mattered, he could pull it together. He had a lot of reverence for his ancestors, and at some point in time, his ancestors learned from the badgermoles. When they approached, they waited. They did not strike. Zane took a deep breath and moved into a stance I'd never seen before.

"Follow my lead."

I copied his stance, and the badgermoles reacted. We bowed and waited until the badgermoles approached us further. When they put their claws together, they turned around and walked away from the shrine. I was suspicious of this, but what was I gonna do? These were the keepers of the vault.

They took us around the back of the landmark and underground. There was a labyrinth of pathways. Even if someone found this place, they would never be able to get to the key without help. There were places where the badgermoles lowered secret passages and things of that nature.

Eventually, we came to a giant room. There were multiple trials for an earthbender to pass before reaching the key, which was at the top of a giant, pure platinum pedestal. I just stood there and watched as Zane made his way to the top using dozens of moves like making rock shelves, climbing vertical walls, and metalbending. Before today, I'd never seen him use metalbending. I didn't even know he could bend metal.

 _When the hell did that happen!?_ It was all I could think about until we were halfway to Tunisia with the key. "Kyana, it's not a big deal. It was forever until you told me about your bloodbending."

"Yeah, cause I thought you'd freak out and never talk to me again!"

"That's ridiculous. I was scared as fuck, sure, but I'm still here, aren't I?"

 _Guess so. Good to have one true friend._ "Right. But you metalbending could've been so helpful in the past."

"What's done is done."

"Alright, alright. So when we get to Africa, we're just gonna lay low and wait for Zero and his dumb friend to show up."

"Sounds like a plan."

We were walking through the southern part of Saudi Arabia when I realized we were doing just that. Walking.

"Do you have a problem with bending us the rest of the way there," I ask.

He shot me a look. I guess that meant we were walking all the way there. It was about 8 hours later when finally reached the Red Sea, and I could take over. By the time we got across and into Egypt I'd had enough. I was so tired of walking, and really tired in general that I would've bothered Zane until he gave in, but then I saw an even better option. Last time I'd checked, Africa wasn't exactly leading producer of sports cars, but when I saw one unattended on the beach, I didn't question it.

"Zane, can you bend the ignition so the car starts?"

Nodding signified that he could, and did.

"See how helpful your metalbending is?" I smiled for the first time since seeing the waterfall in Xinjiang. Driving this stolen car was one of the most exhilarating feelings. Going about 95 over the terrain in Africa wasn't a difficult feat.

"Do you always drive like that?"

"Only when I'm bored."

"Well, lets hope you don't get bored when you're near any cars in the future."

Finding the monument in Tunisia wasn't the easiest thing in the world. Knowing the coordinates meant nothing without a map. We drove for another 5 hours before finally coming to the consensus that this museum must be it, despite looking nothing like a secure vault. Either way, all that was left to do was wait, and I was glad because I was so damn tired it wasn't even funny.

Sleeping in a sports car in a bright parking lot is surprisingly more comfortable than you might think. It was the perfect place to think about how to get Zero on my side. I would have to if I wanted to get the key from the Monk's Vault. I'm sure only Zero could get that information out of his friend. I'd think of something before it was too late. But for now, I let myself try to rest.

I woke up without a clue, aimlessly watching the sun rise. _The sun._ I had a feeling Zero would show up sometime soon. That kid was at least smart enough to face us during his time of day. I decided to put the key from the vault in a place nobody would find. I would've told Zane to hold it, but he wasn't the best with important stuff. I sat there waiting, knowing today was the day.

 _This should be interesting._


	9. Chapter 9

Zero

At the airport, we picked up another car to transport us across the Egyptian desserts. We parked with some distance between us and the museum to dodge the influx of traffic. The line getting into the museum wasn't all that bad. Inside the cultural heritage would have proved to my history teacher just how bad her class was.

"So Zero, where are all the guards you talked about?"

"The fire sages are everywhere in here. Sorry to disappoint if you were expecting the old school robes. They come in the form of a governmental group called Sigma 6. And behind firebending, one-way walls are their specialty."

"That's sorta creepy."

I didn't have time to respond because I looked across the courtyard and saw a pair of... memorable faces. One belonged to a light skinned earthbender. The other, a cute and devious waterbender. I wasted no time getting to business this time around, shooting a fire blast straight at the pair. The earthbender, who had obviously had his eye on us through vibrations, protected them with an earth wall. Non-bender tourist screamed, shouted, and ran away. Leaving the stage clear. Soul and I closed the gap between our two groups. A host of men in red suits poured from every direction and circled the four of us. They were all in a synchronized stance to shoot fire. The same basic stance I'd learned years ago when my father first trained me to bend.

Immediately I bark at them all, "clear this building, retrieve the fire lord's key, and bring it to me. My name is Zero Abyss, from the guardian Abyss family.."

A few of the men seemed confused, but I made the assumption they were the ones who didn't read the job description. The others ran off to do what they were instructed and the others followed.

The earthbender took a step forward as if to signal he'd be fighting.

"Zane don't be stupid."

 _Zane huh? I'm not sure the name fits him._

"Kyana, I got these two."

 _And a Kyana? Interesting._ I looked around to survey the environment. I felt a smirk come across my face when I realized the new best part of our quest. There was no water here. Our new friend Kyana was going to have to sit out this fight. I'd beaten Zane alone at around four in Republic City. It was only 45 minutes from noon right now, and much closer to the equator. My power was coming up to it's fullest in the day.

 _Should I tell Soul to sit this one out? Hell no. This isn't about honor. This is punishment. This is revenge._

Just like that, I initiated the rest of our fight, torching out fire from my mouth. Zane did the obvious thing and blocked with a wall, as the impact made a cloud of smoke. Soul then ran around behind Zane and blasted his way. Zane pushed up the earth up from underneath himself and launched into the air over the attack.

 _Heh. Perfect._

"Soul, let's bring em down!"

I took in a breath and took in the power of the sun. Clapping my hands together, I put them above my head and shot a huge stream of fire, before bringing my hands to the ground, the fire following like a massive whip. On the opposite side, Soul mimicked, supplementing my attack.

I heard Zane hit the ground hard and opened my eyes to see him struggling to get back up.

"Soul, think we overdid it?"

"HELL NO! Man, this is revenge from what they did to me!"

I smirked.

 _What the hell is wrong with me? Aren't I the good guy here?_

I assumed Zane was finished for the day, so I let my guard down. But as soon as I turned around I was flying back 10 feet, with a wad of sand in my gut. Zane had managed to get to his feet and attack me in the process.

 _So you're not done huh?_

I made a swift hand gesture to Soul, who dropped and did a sweep on command. The air tripped Zane from behind. I had forgotten Kyana was here until she was by Zane's side now.

His voice was hoarse trying to talk to her. "Kyana let's just let them have this one. We'll get them after Alaska's vault."

 _Just giving me all the answers today. Both your names. The location of a vault._

This was going nicely. Zane tried to get back up, but another fireball brought him back down. Soul appeared to be enjoying this as well, so maybe I wasn't as evil as I was feeling. He walked over to where Zane and Kyana were.

I spoke up again, "I hate to use typical lines. But honestly, this is rich. We can consider today...compensation for last week."

I met eyes with Soul. He had a bit of a perverted smile going. Then he goes right into his sentence, looking at Kyana, "since hitting a defenseless woman would be wrong, this'll do instead."

I could feel my eyes get wide when he grabbed the front of her tank top, and ripped off not only her shirt but he got her bra in with that.

She screamed and covered herself as best she could. But not before I caught a very nice peek. I saw Soul catch her gaze. The look on her face said that if there had been the minutest water in bending range, she'd have killed him on the spot. If this had been, only a few weeks earlier, I would have said this was enough. But I felt that I needed to leave a message. Something to tell her 'this is over'. Something she'd never forget.

Then it hit me. It went against all the morals I had. But honestly, I didn't feel anything about it. I turned my back to them. No one would see the cold look in my eyes.

"Soul get her out of the way, then gimme a boost." He slid her a few feet over with some air before I turned around and ran at him, jumping as he tossed me up with an air blast. He stepped under and made a small tornado which kept me going up. When I felt I was maybe two or three hundred feet in the air I set my whole right arm ablaze, and Sou knew to drop me. When the tornado vanished, I came accelerating down, fist first, until I brought down all my force on Zane's chest.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I felt about it. He grabbed his chest and fumed in agony as he was being burned from the inside out. His anguish filled yells and screams didn't create any feelings in me. I knew I should have felt guilt, or regret maybe. But watching his wiggle and writhe didn't do that for me.

"AAHHHH! ARGGGGH!"

The smell of burning flesh captures the air. I looked over to see a devastated Kyana.

Zane tried to force his last words through coughs of blood. "Ky...Kyana...Don't...aargh...bl..." He spat out a big wad of blood and squirmed until he grew still, soon to grow cold. Never to give Kyana his final remarks. The fire sages had watched me kill him and seemed a more than frightened when I approached them.

"Key."

I remained static while it was handed to me. I called to Soul, then left one final remark.

"Clean that corpse. Burn it. A body would scare away tourists. And be sure to lock her away somewhere. Don't be fooled she's a master waterbender."

I couldn't imagine what she was thinking over there. She only sat there. Blank faced. No tears. No threats. I decided not to warn the sages she could bloodbend on the sign of any moon. I wanted to see if she'd really come for us after that. After watching her partner be murdered.

 _Show me your determination._


End file.
